Eleven boats are gathering this week in Alicante in the final stretch for the start of the fourteenth edition of the round the world regatta, The Ocean Race 2022-23, which will take place on January 15th, but which will inaugurate the Ocean Live Park, the free entry ‘village’, this Saturday, January 7th.
The iconic round-the-world ocean race will feature the five state-of-the-art IMOCA yachts, while the VO65 fleet prepares for the first The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint Cup, which has three racing legs that coincide with legs 1, 6 and 7 of the round-the-world race.
For the five IMOCA crews who are putting the finishing touches before the start of the race this is a key week, leading up to the January 8 inshore race and before the start of the first leg of The Ocean Race, between Alicante and Cape Verde on January 15.
These five IMOCA class teams will be the 11th Hour Racing Team from the United States; Team Malizia from Germany; Team Holcim-PRB from Switzerland; the
French-German GUYOT environnement-Team Europe; and the French Biotherm Racing.
For the 11th Hour Racing Team, the final preparation for the start was planned well in advance and the team arrived in Alicante just in time to welcome the new year. «Our team has already gone through the intense measurement process, so this last leg is a formality,» commented sailor Jack Bouttell after arriving in Alicante.
«The boat is ready, the equipment is ready and we couldn’t have done anything more to be ready for the start. In all the projects I’ve worked on, the magnitude of the work doesn’t hit you until you’re at the starting port. I think I’m in this transitional phase right now where I’m excited and a little nervous, although the stress of the start has not yet taken hold of me,» Bouttell added.
Four of the IMOCAs are now based at the Ocean Live Park marina in Alicante, with the GUYOT environnement-Team Europe expected to arrive on Friday, having received permission from Race Direction to continue their boat preparations in Barcelona until the end of the week.
For its part, the VO65 fleet competing in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint now totals six members, with the last minute addition of an Austrian/Italian team. The members are the Portuguese Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team; the Polish WindWhisper Racing Team; the Dutch Team JAJO; the Lithuanian Ambersail 2; the Mexican Viva Mexico; and the Austrian Ocean Racing-Team Genova with dual Austrian and Italian flags.
SOURCE: (EUROPA PRESS)
